Coming soon: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

What: The most comprehensive update of The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ will be unveiled at IUCN’s World Conservation Congress in Barcelona on Monday, October 6, 2008.

Photo: IUCN

• The IUCN Red List (2008) is now expected to cover more than 45,000 species. Not all species have been assessed however coverage is increasing every year.
• Global Mammal Assessment released. Find out how all 5,490 of the world’s mammals are doing with this latest update.
• In-depth analysis of the latest IUCN Red List with the release of The 2008 review of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. New IUCN Red List logo launched to create a more user-friendly image for the general public as well as zoos and aquariums around the world.

Why:
• “The Red List shows us where danger is at its greatest for individual species and in tackling them we tackle all the things that live with them.” David Attenborough• “The IUCN Red List is the most powerful tool in species conservation today. Without it, we wouldn’t even know where to begin. It provides the baseline from which all our conservation work can be measured, and is also extremely effective for calling attention to the status of those species most at risk and generating public excitement about them.” Russ Mittermeier, President of Conservation International• “The IUCN Red List is far more than just a list of species, it is the collective result of the work of thousands of dedicated volunteer experts, imparting their knowledge about the world’s plants and animals to ultimately support biodiversity, human livelihoods and our planet Earth.” John Francis, Vice President of Research, Conservation and Exploration, National Geographic Society• "A great strength of the IUCN Red List is its scientific rigour. The assessments are peer reviewed and independently checked for consistency within and between taxonomic groups before any results are made available to the public." Mike Rands, Chief Executive of BirdLife International• "WWF values the IUCN Red List as the world's most respected source of information on the status of species around the planet. The Red List is both a scientific tool, and a powerful guide to conservation efforts worldwide. WWF staff are proud to contribute to the IUCN Red List and the IUCN SSC Specialist Groups." James P. Leape, Director General, WWF International• “The world’s zoo and aquarium community carry out their conservation programmes using information from the IUCN Red List. It is also a wonderful tool to help spread the message and educate the world about conservation issues.” Peter Dollinger, Executive Director of WAZA (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums)• "Over the years, the rigour of the IUCN Red List process has built it into a widely-accepted ‘global standard’ for monitoring the conservation status and trends of species worldwide,” says Holly Dublin, Chair of IUCN’s Species Survival Commission (SSC). “The SSC is the largest and oldest IUCN commission, its members are proud to be the primary contributors to the IUCN Red List assessments."
• “The IUCN Red List is the global gold standard for informing conservation action,”Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Director General of IUCN.

How:
• The world’s top animal and plant scientists provide the information that feeds into the IUCN Red List.
• Some are members of the specialist groups of the IUCN Species Survival Commission.
• Other organizations that work tirelessly with IUCN to contribute to the IUCN Red List include Conservation International, BirdLife International, NatureServe and the Zoological Society of London.
• The IUCN Red List is available online and free of charge for anyone to use at www.iucnredlist.org .

IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges by supporting scientific research; managing field projects all over the world; and bringing governments, NGOs, the UN, international conventions and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice.

IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental network. IUCN is a democratic union with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organizations, and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists in more than 160 countries. IUCN’s work is supported by over 1,000 professional staff in 60 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world.